6 CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
6.2 Future outlook
The research presented in this dissertation adopts a forward-looking stance that is aimed at exploring those areas of lean application where development potential can be observed. The research adopts different perspectives of lean and therefore, aims at showing a broadened spectrum of the applicability of the concept.
Further development of the research into lean would need to be focused on exploring lean implementation in the context of building competitive advantage or crafting unique business models based on lean enterprises. Even though the exact definitions and practical realizations of a lean enterprise will differ between companies, the research results and recommendations might serve as a basis for forming lean strategies. Furthermore, the applicability of lean should be explored in connection with the technological development and the rapid development of connected devices operating under the framework of the Internet of Things.
Enterprises being able to stay at the forefront of innovative solutions should be able to reap the benefits of technology while maintaining their constant readiness to change or even transform. With the rapid development of technologies and analytical tools, the areas of combining lean and with the advancements of the Internet of Things where performance of devices can be monitored in real time.
With the help of the new analytical tools, the new ways of determining what value really mean to customers. In other words, tools for eliminating waste and delivering customer value are changing while offering brand new ways of improving operations.
However, future of lean should not be solely attributed to technological advancements and constantly finding ways to eliminate waste in order to drive down manufacturing costs. The implementation of lean should continue to be firmly planted within the humane side of operations and therefore, the implementation of lean focused on an ultimate goal of decreasing the number of employees should be avoided and exchanged for an attitude that assumes freeing the human capital from performing activities that do not add value, and engaging them in more creative and value adding tasks.
Furthermore, as countries differ in the level of their economic development and since this dissertation provides evidence from Finnish companies, the further research should be focused on the developing economies. An approach that looks
into the future by embracing the rapid technological development should therefore be complimented with “the other side of the coin” which addresses lean improvements in economies where development is still in its early phases.
References
Achanga, P., Shehab, E., Roy, R. and Nelder, G., 2006. Critical success factors for lean implementation within SMEs. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 17(4), pp.460-471.
Anand, G. and Kodali, R., 2008. Performance measurement system for lean manufacturing: a perspective from SMEs. International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 2(4), pp.371-410.
Andersson, R., Eriksson, H. and Torstensson, H., 2006. Similarities and differences between TQM, six sigma and lean. The TQM magazine, 18(3), pp.282-296.
Angelis, J., Conti, R., Cooper, C. and Gill, C., 2011. Building a high-commitment lean culture. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 22(5), pp.569-586.
Anvari, A.R., Norzima, Z., Rosnay, M., Hojjati, M. and Ismail, Y., 2010. A comparative study on journey of lean manufacturing implementation.AIJSTPME, 3(2), pp.77-85.
Alting, D.L. and Jøgensen, D.J., 1993. The life cycle concept as a basis for sustainable industrial production. CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology,42(1), pp.163-167.
APQC. 2016. “APQC process classification framework”, APQC, available at: https://www.apqc.org/pcf. Accessed 20th June 2016.
Baxter, P. and Jack, S., 2008. Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. The qualitative report,13(4), pp.544-559.
Bhasin, S., 2012. An appropriate change strategy for lean success.Management Decision, 50(3), pp.439-458.
Bhasin, S. and Burcher, P., 2006. Lean viewed as a philosophy. Journal of manufacturing technology management, 17(1), pp.56-72.
Bhasin, S., 2013. Impact of corporate culture on the adoption of the Lean principles. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 4(2), pp.118-140.
Bicheno, J., 2008. The lean toolbox for service systems. PICSIE books.
Birtwistle, G., Siddiqui, N. and Fiorito, S.S., 2003. Quick response:
perceptions of UK fashion retailers. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, 31(2), pp.118-128.
Blank, S., 2013. Why the lean start-up changes everything. Harvard Business Review, 91(5), pp.63-72.
Bowen, D.E. and Youngdahl, W.E., 1998. “Lean” service: in defense of a production-line approach. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 9(3), pp.207-225.
Bruce, M., Daly, L. and Towers, N., 2004. Lean or agile: a solution for supply chain management in the textiles and clothing industry?.
International journal of operations & production management, 24(2), pp.151-170.
Bakås, O., Govaert, T. and Van Landeghem, H., 2011. Challenges and success factors for implementation of lean manufacturing in European SMES. In 13th International conference on the Modern Information Technology in the Innovation Processes of the Industrial Enterprise (MITIP 2011) (Vol. 1). Tapir Academic Press.
Cagliano, R., Caniato, F., Golini, R., Longoni, A. and Micelotta, E., 2011.
The impact of country culture on the adoption of new forms of work organization.International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31(3), pp.297-323.
Childerhouse, P. and Towill, D., 2000. Engineering supply chains to match customer requirements. Logistics information management, 13(6), pp.337-346.
Chin, L. and Rafuse, B.A., 1993. A small manufacturer adds JIT techniques to MRP. Production and Inventory Management Journal, 34(4), p.18.
Chowdary, B.V. and George, D., 2011. Application of flexible lean tools for restructuring of manufacturing operations: a case study. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 12(1/2), p.1.
Cooney, R., 2002. Is “lean” a universal production system? Batch production in the automotive industry. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 22(10), pp.1130-1147.
Creswell, J., 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE Publications.
Creswell, J.W., 2012. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage.
De Souza, L.B. and Pidd, M., 2011. Exploring the barriers to lean health
care implementation. Public Money & Management, 31(1), pp.59-66.
Dües, C.M., Tan, K.H. and Lim, M., 2013. Green as the new Lean: how to use Lean practices as a catalyst to greening your supply chain. Journal of cleaner production, 40, pp.93-100.
Eurostat, 2016. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMES). Available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/structural-business-statistics/structural-business-statistics/sme. Last accessed 21st March 2016.
Finkbeiner, M., Schau, E.M., Lehmann, A. and Traverso, M., 2010.
Towards life cycle sustainability assessment. Sustainability, 2(10), pp.3309-3322.
Florida, R., 1996. Lean and green: the move to environmentally conscious manufacturing. California management review, 39(1), pp.80-105.
Forza, C. and Vinelli, A., 1997. Quick response in the textile-apparel industry and the support of information technologies. Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 8(3), pp.125-136.
Glaser, B.G., 1992. Emergence vs forcing: Basics of grounded theory analysis. Sociology Press.
Glaser, B. and Strauss, A., 1967. The discovery of grounded theory.
Strategies for Qualitative Research. Mill Valley: The Sociology Press.
Goldsby, T.J., Griffis, S.E. and Roath, A.S., 2006. Modeling lean, agile, and leagile supply chain strategies. Journal of business logistics, 27(1), pp.57-80.
Gunasekaran, A., 1999. Agile manufacturing: a framework for research and development. International journal of production economics, 62(1), pp.87-105.
Hagel, J III., Brown, J.S., Davison, L., 2009. Why do companies exist?.
Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2009/02/why-do-companies-exist.html. Last accessed 25th March, 2016.
Hansmann, R., Mieg, H.A. and Frischknecht, P., 2012. Principal sustainability components: empirical analysis of synergies between the three pillars of sustainability. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 19(5), pp.451-459.
Hallgren, M. and Olhager, J., 2009. Lean and agile manufacturing:
external and internal drivers and performance outcomes. International
Journal of Operations & Production Management, 29(10), pp.976-999.
Hellsten, U. and Klefsjö, B., 2000. TQM as a management system consisting of values, techniques and tools. The TQM magazine, 12(4), pp.238-244.
Herrmann, C., Thiede, S., Stehr, J. and Bergmann, L., 2008. An environmental perspective on Lean Production. In Manufacturing Systems and Technologies for the New Frontier (pp. 83-88). Springer london.
Hines, P., Holweg, M. and Rich, N., 2004. Learning to evolve: a review of contemporary lean thinking. International journal of operations &
production management, 24(10), pp.994-1011.
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J. and Minkov, M., 1991. Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (Vol. 2). London: McGraw-Hill.
Holweg, M. and Pil, F.K., 2005. The second century: reconnecting customer and value chain through build-to-order moving beyond mass and lean in the auto industry. MIT Press Books, 1.
Hormozi, A.M., 2001. Agile manufacturing: the next logical step.
Benchmarking: An International Journal, 8(2), pp.132-143.
Hu, Q., Mason, R., Williams, S.J. and Found, P., 2015. Lean implementation within SMEs: a literature review. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 26(7), pp.980-1012.
Jadhav. R, J., S. Mantha, S. and B. Rane, S., 2014. Exploring barriers in lean implementation. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 5(2), pp.122-148.
James-Moore, S.M. and Gibbons, A., 1997. Is lean manufacture universally relevant? An investigative methodology. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 17(9), pp.899-911.
Jina, J., Bhattacharya, A.K. and Walton, A.D., 1997. Applying lean principles for high product variety and low volumes: some issues and propositions.Logistics Information Management, 10(1), pp.5-13.
Jones, C., Medlen, N., Merlo, C., Robertson, M. and Shepherdson, J., 1999.
The lean enterprise. BT Technology Journal, 17(4), pp.15-22.
Jørgensen, F., Matthiesen, R., Nielsen, J. and Johansen, J., 2007. Lean maturity, lean sustainability. In Advances in Production Management Systems (pp. 371-378). Springer US.
Jørgensen, B. and Emmitt, S., 2008. Lost in transition: the transfer of lean
manufacturing to construction. Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management, 15(4), pp.383-398.
Kainuma, Y. and Tawara, N., 2006. A multiple attribute utility theory approach to lean and green supply chain management. International Journal of Production Economics, 101(1), pp.99-108.
Karim, A. and Arif-Uz-Zaman, K., 2013. A methodology for effective implementation of lean strategies and its performance evaluation in manufacturing organizations. Business Process Management Journal, 19(1), pp.169-196.
Kim, C.S., Spahlinger, D.A., Kin, J.M. and Billi, J.E., 2006. Lean health care: What can hospitals learn from a world‐class automaker?. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 1(3), pp.191-199.
King, A.A. and Lenox, M.J., 2001. Lean and green? An empirical examination of the relationship between lean production and environmental performance. Production and operations management, 10(3), pp.244-256.
Kloepffer, W., 2008. Life cycle sustainability assessment of products. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 13(2), pp.89-95.
Kollberg, B., Dahlgaard, J.J. and Brehmer, P.O., 2006. Measuring lean initiatives in health care services: issues and findings. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 56(1), pp.7-24.
Koskela, L., 1997. Lean production in construction. Lean construction, pp.1-9.
Krishnamurthy, R. and Yauch, C.A., 2007. Leagile manufacturing: a proposed corporate infrastructure. International Journal of Operations &
Production Management, 27(6), pp.588-604.
Kristensen, K., Dahlgaard, J.J. and Kanji, G.K., 1998. Fundamentals of total quality management.
Kumar, M. and Antony, J., 2008. Comparing the quality management practices in UK SMEs. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 108(9), pp.1153-1166.
Lamming, R., 1996. Squaring lean supply with supply chain management.International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 16(2), pp.183-196.
Larson, T. and Greenwood, R., 2004. Perfect complements: Synergies between lean production and eco‐sustainability initiatives. Environmental Quality Management, 13(4), pp.27-36.
Lawson, M.B., 2001. In praise of slack: Time is of the essence. The
Academy of Management Executive, 15(3), pp.125-135.
Lewis, M.A., 2000. Lean production and sustainable competitive advantage. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 20(8), pp.959-978.
Lin, Z. and Hui, C., 1997. Adapting to the changing environment: a theoretical comparison of decision making proficiency of lean and mass organization systems. Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory,3(2), pp.113-142.
Liker, J.K.,1994. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
Liker, J.K. and Morgan, J.M., 2006. The Toyota way in services: the case of lean product development. The Academy of Management Perspectives,20(2), pp.5-20.
Mason-Jones, R., Naylor, B. and Towill, D.R., 2000. Engineering the leagile supply chain. International Journal of Agile Management Systems, 2(1), pp.54-61.
Mazzocato, P., Savage, C., Brommels, M., Aronsson, H. and Thor, J., 2010.
Lean thinking in healthcare: a realist review of the literature. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 19(5), pp.376-382.
McCullen, P. and Towill, D., 2001. Achieving lean supply through agile manufacturing. Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 12(7), pp.524-533.
Melton, T., 2005. The benefits of lean manufacturing: what lean thinking has to offer the process industries. Chemical Engineering Research and Design,83(6), pp.662-673.
Meredith, J., 1993. Theory building through conceptual methods.International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 13(5), pp.3-11.
Miller, D. and Hartwick, J., 2002. Spotting management fads. Harvard Business Review, 80(10), pp.26-7.
Modig, N. and Åhlström, P., 2012. This is lean: Resolving the efficiency paradox. Rheologica.
Mollenkopf, D., Stolze, H., Tate, W.L. and Ueltschy, M., 2010. Green, lean, and global supply chains. International Journal of Physical Distribution &
Logistics Management, 40(1/2), pp.14-41.
Muda, S. and Hendry, L., 2002. Developing a new world class model for
small and medium sized make-to-order companies. International Journal
of Production Economics, 78(3), pp.295-310.
Netland, T., 2013. Exploring the phenomenon of company-specific production systems: one-best-way or own-best-way?. International Journal of Production Research, 51(4), pp.1084-1097.
O Reilly, C.A. and Tushman, M.L., 2004. The ambidextrous organization.Harvard business review, 82(4), pp.74-83.
Ovans, A., 2015. “What is Strategy, Again?”, Harvard Business Review, 93, 5.
Pakdil, F. and Leonard, K.M., 2015. The effect of organizational culture on implementing and sustaining lean processes. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 26(5), pp.725-743.
Panizzolo, R., 1998. Applying the lessons learned from 27 lean manufacturers.: The relevance of relationships management. International journal of production economics, 55(3), pp.223-240.
Panizzolo, R., Garengo, P., Sharma, M.K. and Gore, A., 2012. Lean manufacturing in developing countries: evidence from Indian SMEs.Production Planning & Control, 23(10-11), pp.769-788.
Piercy, N. and Rich, N., 2009. Lean transformation in the pure service environment: the case of the call service centre. International journal of operations & production management, 29(1), pp.54-76.
Pocketbooks, E., 2011. Key figures on European business with a special feature on SMEs. Eurostat, Luxembourg.
Poksinska, B., 2010. The current state of Lean implementation in health care: literature review. Quality Management in Healthcare, 19(4), pp.319-329.
Poppendieck, M., 2002. Lean thinking: The theory behind agile software development. Poppendieck, LLC.
Porter, M.E., 2002. What is strategy. Strategy for business: A reader, 625.
Porter, M.E., 1996, 'What Is Strategy?', Harvard Business Review, 74, 6, pp. 61-78,
Qudrat-Ullah, H., Seong, B.S. and Mills, B.L., 2012. Improving high variable-low volume operations: an exploration into the lean product development. International Journal of Technology Management, 57(1/2/3), pp.49-70.
Radnor, Z., 2011. Implementing lean in health care: making the link
between the approach, readiness and sustainability. International Journal
of Industrial Engineering and Management, 2(1), pp.1-12.
Radnor, Z. and Osborne, S.P., 2013. Lean: a failed theory for public services?. Public Management Review, 15(2), pp.265-287.
Rothenberg, S., Pil, F.K. and Maxwell, J., 2001. Lean, green, and the quest for superior environmental performance. Production and Operations Management, 10(3), pp.228-243.
Salem, O., Solomon, J., Genaidy, A. and Minkarah, I., 2006. Lean construction: From theory to implementation. Journal of management in engineering, 22(4), pp.168-175.
Second, B., 2010. The Barriers to SMEs' Implementation of Lean Production and Counter measures----Based on SMS in Wenzhou.
International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 1(2), p.220.
Shah, R. and Ward, P.T., 2003. Lean manufacturing: context, practice bundles, and performance. Journal of operations management, 21(2), pp.129-149.
Shiba, S., Graham, A. and Walden, D. 1993. A New American TQM: Four Practical Revolutions in Management, Center for Quality Management, Productivity Press, Portland, OR.
Sim, K.L. and Rogers, J.W., 2008. Implementing lean production systems:
barriers to change. Management research news, 32(1), pp.37-49.
Simmons, O.E., 2010. Is that a real theory or did you just make it up?
Teaching classic grounded theory. The Grounded Theory Review, 9(2), pp.15-38.
Slomp, J., Bokhorst, J.A. and Germs, R., 2009. A lean production control system for high-variety/low-volume environments: a case study implementation. Production Planning and Control, 20(7), pp.586-595.
Smart, P.K., Tranfield, D., Deasley, P., Levene, R., Rowe, A. and Corley, J., 2003. Integrating ‘lean’and ‘high reliability’thinking. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 217(5), pp.733-739.
Smeds, R., 1994. Managing change towards lean enterprises. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 14(3), pp.66-82.
Sugimori, Y., Kusunoki, K., Cho, F. and Uchikawa, S., 1977. Toyota
production system and kanban system materialization of just-in-time and
respect-for-human system. The International Journal of Production
Research, 15(6), pp.553-564.
Surbier, L., Alpan, G. and Blanco, E., 2014. A comparative study on production ramp-up: state-of-the-art and new challenges. Production Planning & Control, 25(15), pp.1264-1286.
Tatham, P. and Worrell, D., 2010. Lean Thinking in an Uncertain Environment: The Implications for UK Defence Acquisition. International Journal of Defense Acquisition Management, 3.
Timans, W., Antony, J., Ahaus, K. and van Solingen, R., 2012.
Implementation of Lean Six Sigma in small-and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in the Netherlands. Journal of the Operational Research Society,63(3), pp.339-353.
Toyota Global. 2013. Toyota Global Vision- Always Better Cars. Available at: http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/report/archive/sr13/pdf/sr13_p12_p17.pdf.
Accessed 20th June 2016.
Tsang, E.W., 2014. Generalizing from research findings: the merits of case studies. International Journal of Management Reviews, 16(4), pp.369-383.
Vinodh, S., Arvind, K.R. and Somanaathan, M., 2011. Tools and techniques for enabling sustainability through lean initiatives. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 13(3), pp.469-479.
Williams, K., Haslam, C., Williams, J., Cultler, T., Adcroft, A. and Johal, S., 1992. Against lean production. Economy and Society, 21(3), pp.321-354.
Wiengarten, F., Gimenez, C., Fynes, B. and Ferdows, K., 2015. Exploring the importance of cultural collectivism on the efficacy of lean practices:
Taking an organisational and national perspective. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 35(3), pp.370-391.
White, R.E., Pearson, J.N. and Wilson, J.R., 1999. JIT manufacturing: a survey of implementations in small and large US manufacturers.Management science, 45(1), pp.1-15.
Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T., 2010. Lean thinking: banish waste and create wealth in your corporation. Simon and Schuster.
Wong, M., 2007. The role of culture in implementing lean production system. In Advances in Production Management Systems (pp. 413-422).
Springer US.
Wu, S. and Wee, H.M., 2009, June. How Lean supply chain effects
product cost and quality-A case study of the Ford Motor Company. In
Service Systems and Service Management, 2009. ICSSSM'09. 6th
International Conference on (pp. 236-241). IEEE.
Yang, M.G.M., Hong, P. and Modi, S.B., 2011. Impact of lean manufacturing and environmental management on business performance:
An empirical study of manufacturing firms. International Journal of Production Economics,129(2), pp.251-261.
Yin, R., 2003. K.(2003). Case study research: Design and methods. Sage Publications, Inc.
Zhou, B., 2012. Lean principles, practices, and impacts: a study on small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Annals of Operations Research,
pp.1-18.
Benchmarking: An International Journal
The challenges of lean manufacturing implementation in SMEs Anna Dorota Rymaszewska
Article information:
To cite this document:
Anna Dorota Rymaszewska , (2014),"The challenges of lean manufacturing implementation in SMEs", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 21 Iss 6 pp. 987 - 1002
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-10-2012-0065 Downloaded on: 07 March 2016, At: 23:15 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 39 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 1792 times since 2014*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
Jaiprakash Bhamu, Kuldip Singh Sangwan, (2014),"Lean manufacturing: literature review and research issues", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 34 Iss 7 pp. 876-940 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-08-2012-0315
Azharul Karim, Kazi Arif-Uz-Zaman, (2013),"A methodology for effective implementation of lean strategies and its performance evaluation in manufacturing organizations", Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 19 Iss 1 pp. 169-196 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14637151311294912
Pius Achanga, Esam Shehab, Rajkumar Roy, Geoff Nelder, (2006),"Critical success factors for lean
implementation within SMEs", Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Vol. 17 Iss 4 pp. 460-471 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17410380610662889
Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:233711 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.
*Related content and download information correct at time of download.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF VAASA At 23:15 07 March 2016 (PT)
The challenges of lean
manufacturing implementation in SMEs
Anna Dorota Rymaszewska
Department of Production, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland
Abstract
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify the lean manufacturing implementation challenges in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The study is based on experiences of the Finnish furniture and boating sectors. The paper outlines the overall characteristics of the studied organizations and contrasts them with one of the most famous example of lean implementation – the Toyota Company.
By comparing the different manufacturing environments as well as organizational characteristics, the potential challenges of lean adoption are outlined.
Design/methodology/approach– The findings presented in this paper were achieved through the case study method. The research utilizes the deductive approach.
Findings– The results present an assessment of the companies’ current situations. The results uncover their readiness for lean implementation and identify the challenges that might hinder lean
Findings– The results present an assessment of the companies’ current situations. The results uncover their readiness for lean implementation and identify the challenges that might hinder lean